The Thing
by Hobbeth
Summary: Thunderbird 3 accidently brings something back to Tracy Island when returning from the monthly rotation switchover. The effects this object has on the Tracys is interesting. Written for the Classic Thunderbirds Showcase challenge. Please r


_A/N: This has been quietly bubbling in my brain fora few weeks, so quietly that I didn't think it would bear fruit. As usual, and unfortunately, I don't own any of the characters or the Thunderbirds. I've just borrowed them and, as you will see, they will be returned intact._

_Once again,I ask that you do not copy, hotlink or use all or any part of this story in any way without my written permission, and giving me credit as the author._

_Now, enjoy._

THUMP!

"What was that?"

Alan and Scott looked at each other in puzzlement. They'd heard the sound distinctly, but nothing registered on the instruments. Everything seemed to be in order, so Scott made the decision to continue back to Tracy Island.

They were in Thunderbird 3, returning planetside after taking John up to Thunderbird 5 for his monthly rotation. About halfway back, it happened; something had gotten through the protective shield around the ship, but seemingly hadn't damaged anything.

"We'll check it out as soon as we land, Alan. And we'd better notify Base and let them know. Brains will probably want to be there when we do."

"F-A-B. You want to do it, or shall I?"

"I'll do it." Scott activated communications. "Base from Thunderbird 3. Come in, please."

"This is Base. Go ahead, Scott." The screen activated and the face of their father looked at them from it. "Is something wrong?"

"We don't know, Father. Just a few minutes ago, we heard something hit the ship. Nothing is showing on the instruments, and everything seems to be running at optimum levels, as usual. But we want to check her out as soon as we land."

"F-A-B, Scott. I'll let Brains know. But if anything starts to go wrong during your trip home, I want to be informed about it immediately. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. F-A-B. Scott out."

The vid screen went dark and the brothers looked at each other again. "Let's hope nothing goes wrong between here and home," said Alan.

"We'd both better keep our eyes on the instruments then."

"F-A-B."

Nothing did happen, and Alan landed the ship perfectly, as usual. It moved into the holding bay and when they emerged, the engineer was waiting.

"I-I heard you had a b-bit of, uh, t-trouble on the way back."

"Just the sound of something hitting the rocket. No damage was registered."

"S-something got t-through the, uh, shield? That's n-not supposed to, uh, h-happen. Are you sure about what y-you, uh, h-heard?"

"We both heard it, Brains," Scott replied. "So we want to examine the exterior; we want to see if there is a dent or something, anything to confirm it."

"O-okay, Scott. Could you tell w-which part of the, uh, ship was h-hit?"

"No, not really. I suggest we start at the top and work our way down. Alan?"

"Sounds good to me."

A remote controlled scaffolding with an elevator was brought alongside the vessel and the men went up. Brains took the top level, Scott the middle and Alan the third. They slowly moved around the ship, scrutinizing every inch as they went. Once they were satisfied, they moved down to check the next section.

"Brains, Scott, I've found something!"

It was after they'd moved down for the second time that Alan called out to the others. They went down to where he was standing and looked at the section he was pointing to. A silvery rocklike substance had seemingly attached itself to the hull. It shimmered slightly as they gazed at it. Alan started to reach out and touch it.

"No, don't!" Brains grabbed his arm. "We don't know what it is, what it might do if touched, or if it is even safe to touch."

"Okay. Then what do you propose we do? We can't just leave it there."

"I'll have to get some tools to get it off and something to put it in. Then I'll take it to the lab to examine it. Wait here."

He turned to head down, but stopped when he heard a sound like something losing suction, and turned back in time to see the object fall to the platform. Scott reached into a pocket and drew out a square of cloth. He draped it over the object, then picked it up.

"It's warm!" he exclaimed. "It shouldn't be this warm." He turned it over and the cloth fell partly away, so they could all see it more closely. The shimmer grew as they watched.

Then Brains shook his head and said, "Y-you'd better, uh, give it to me. I want to p-put it, uh, s-someplace safe. B-better cover it up."

Scott did so, then handed it to the engineer. The three of them descended to the floor and Brains headed to his lab, while the brothers went to the lounge to debrief.

About two hours later, Jeff went to the lab. He'd tried to talk to Brains via the intercom, but hadn't gotten a reply. Thinking that the genius had become so immersed in his work he hadn't heard the call, or had fallen asleep – as he was wont to do – he decided to check on this unusual object firsthand. But when he arrived, he was surprised to find the younger man just sitting there with the object in his hand – minus the cloth, which was laying on the desk – staring at it.

"Brains."

The engineer didn't move or answer. Jeff went over to him and put a hand on one shoulder.

"Brains."

The younger man jumped, dropping the rock. "M-Mr. T-Tracy; you startled me." He looked at the cloth, puzzled. "H-how did that happen?" He looked up at Jeff. "I was trying to do some, uh, t-tests, but couldn't get any readings. Th-then I was going to see if I c-could, uh, chip a piece off of it to p-put under a microscope. I r-remember picking up a small, uh, chisel, then I was going to, uh, take hold of the, uh, s-space rock.. The next thing I knew, y-you touched me."

Jeff reached for the cloth, bent down and picked the object up. "What were you doing when I came in?"

The scientist looked abashed. "I was r-remembering when I won the Charmey prize for my, uh th-thesis. It was the first award I'd, uh r-received. I was so s-surprised and, uh, delighted, not to m-mention overwhelmed. I h-hadn't thought about it in, uh, y-years."

"Well, come up and have dinner with us. You could use a break." He looked down at the rock. "Is it my imagination, or has this thing changed shape?"

Brains looked at it and said, "Y-you're right. I think that, uh, it does alter its sh-shape to f-fit whatever it is, uh, in at any given t-time."

"Well, it doesn't seem to be dangerous. I'm going to take it upstairs. The boys are all curious about it. You can tell us what you've found out when you come. Don't be long."

Jeff folded the cloth around it, and headed to the monorail. When Brains arrived fifteen minutes later, he found the man at his desk, "rock" in hand and a half smile on his face.

"M-Mr. Tracy." Brains reached out and touched him on the upper arm. Jeff looked up at him, startled, then looked back down at his hand. He put the object down on the desk and shook his head.

"That's strange. I'd put it down on the desk, and the cloth fell away. One minute I was gazing at the thing, thinking how the boys would want to touch it. The next thing I remember was you touching me." He shook his head. "I was remembering my first walk on the moon. It was incredible. And when I turned back and looked at the Earth, well, words can never describe what I felt."

"Hmm. I'm beginning to suspect. . ."

He never got to finish, because Gordon entered the room, followed by Alan. "Hey, Dad, Brains. Is that the rock that got through the shield? Cool!" Before anyone could stop him, he picked it up. "It's warm. Should a rock be that. . ." His words trailed off as he gazed it, and a smile slowly grew on his face.

_I've made it! Did I finish first?Gordon, you moron, all you have to do ischeck the board. Yes! I came in first! I've won the gold medal! And – what's that by my time? I need to get the water out of my eyes. . . . . . . I don't believe it! My time is a new World Record! Everyone is screaming and applauding me!. . . . . Now I'm up on the winners' stand. I'm getting the medal put around my neck. And – flowers? Oh well, I suppose they always do that – yeah, I remember seeing winners get flowers. And now it's time. . . ._

"Quit hogging that thing," Alan said as he took it out of his brother's hand. He turned it over and over, his movements slowing until he, too, began gazing it and smiling.

_Speed. I'm driving as fast as I dare, but this baby is made to outpace everyone else. Now I'm getting the checkered flag, and I'm still in the lead! My first win! Oh man, how great is that? I've got to take a victory lap, then into the pit to congratulate the crew and get theirs. I'm heading in and – oh boy; they've got the champagne bottle and Andy is shaking it up. . ._

"Gordon," Brains said as Virgil, Scott, Tin-Tin and Kyrano entered the room, "what were you just thinking about before Alan took that – object – away?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just remembering when I won my Olympic gold medal." He fell quiet.

Scott reached out, and when he pulled his hand back, Alan's was empty. He gazed down at the object he now held and his eyes widened. Virgil looked at him, puzzled.

_I don't know if I'm more excited or nervous. My first solo flight in a fighter. The checks were performed, the takeoff perfect and now I'm up there, alone. Just me and the plane. This is incredible; I'm above the clouds and the sky is so blue, I. . . . ._

"What's going on here?"

"I-it would seem that w-whatever that is, brings forth a good, uh m-memory for whomever is, uh, holding it at the time. At least that's what it, uh, d-did to me, Mr. Tracy and Gordon. Alan, what were you remembering, uh j-just now?"

"I was thinking of the first race I won. Man, what a feeling **that** was!"

"Oh wow!" Virgil grabbed the object from Scott. Soon he, too, was gazing at it with a smile on his face.

_"Mommy? I wrote this just for you." _

"_That's wonderful, Virgil. Would you play it for me?"_

"_Sure!" I'm playing the first thing I ever wrote. It's only a few bars long; I'm too young to write much yet. I'm just glad I know how. There! I've finished playing and I didn't make a single mistake._

"_Virgil, that was beautiful. I'll always cherish it." She's hugging me and. . ._

"Scott, what memory did you just relive?" his father said.

"My first solo flight in a fighter jet. What a feeling of freedom that was. It was incredible!"

Tin-Tin took it from Virgil and a few moments later Alan and Gordon both tried to grab it again. They jostled her and she dropped it. Kyrano bent over and picked it up, closing his fingers around it as he slowly stood up.

"Boys! Stop this right now!" Jeff got up and went over to his friend and retainer. He gently opened the other man's hand and took the object gingerly in his fingertips. He went back to his desk, opened a drawer and put it inside. He locked the desk and stood up. "Kyrano, is dinner ready?"

"Yes it is. I came in to let you all know."

"Then let's all go in to eat. We'll talk about this some more afterwards. And no talking about what happened to us because of that thing until then."

Dinner was a silent affair, since everyone's mind was on what he – or she – experienced while handling the object. It took a while before they had all finished, but the meal was finally over. Then by mutual silent consent, they all went back into the lounge, even Kyrano.

Jeff took his usual place at his desk. "All right, Brains; what is your theory about this object Alan and Scott brought back with them?"

"W-well, M-Mr. Tracy, I suspect that it is some kind of, uh, a-alien life form."

"You mean we're going to have to feed it? I wonder what it eats," interrupted Alan.

Brains smiled. "I don't think it eats food like we do. I don't know if anyone else, uh, n-noticed, but it has a shimmer that gets b-brighter each time it is passed and each person, uh, r-relives a memory. But I'd like to hear what m-memories Virgil, Tin-Tin and, uh K-Kyrano had."

"I relived the first time I played a short piece I wrote for Mom."

"I was remembering a time when I was with both Mother and Father, and eating ice cream for the first time. How good it tasted and how happy we all were!"

"I was reliving my wedding day." Kyrano turned to his daughter. "How beautiful your mother was. You look so much like her." Tin-Tin smiled at him.

"Okay, so it calls forth good memories. Would it start having us relive bad ones? Why didn't this start happening as soon as it was picked up the first time? And why didn't I have another memory when I took it from Kyrano?"

"T-These are all good questions, uh, M-Mr. Tracy. I would have to study it and e-experiment on it for a long, uh, time to be able to answer them w-with any certainty. But I think that because you only touched it with your f-fingertips before you put it in your desk, it may n-need, uh, greater physical c-contact to be able to do what it does. Perhaps it also needed l-longer contact, uh, originally, in order to read us. I've n-never heard of something like this, uh, showing up on Earth before, and it would be hard to, uh, k-keep it a secret for long. But it may feed on our, uh, m-memories, and the energy we, uh, have when we relive them. If so, it could drain us, so we'd b-better not touch it any more."

"Then it's probably a good thing Grandma is away, visiting friends in Kansas. She's probably got more good memories than all of us combined," said Scott as Gordon and Alan groaned. "And if it feeds on our energy, it could drain us, her more quickly."

"You think it really would hurt us if we held it? Can't we try just once more?" asked Alan.

Jeff looked around at each person's face and knew that what he saw matched what he was feeling. "This is going to be hard for all of us, since I see that each of you wants to hold it again to see what memory comes up. I want to do the same. And the strength of my desire makes me think that this thing is addictive. In our lives, that is very dangerous. It could prevent us from going out on a rescue. No, I think Brains is right and we shouldn't handle it again."

"**Dad! Look!**" Virgil was pointing at the desk. Jeff looked down and saw that the surface above the drawer he'd locked the object in was glowing.

"M-Mr. Tracy, move away f-from there!"

As Jeff pulled his chair back, a beam of light came down from directly above the desk to meet the glow. They all watched as the drawer unlocked itself and opened. The object was lifted into the beam and rose. As it did, each person heard a message in his or her mind.

_We are sorry you had to come in contact with the mitalan. It is not something that many can control, and so is greatly valued as both a life enhancer and a weapon where we are from. It was stolen, but was lost when the thief was apprehended in space. We apologize for any inconvenience. Since each of you had only one contact with it, the effects will wear off quickly._

As the mental message faded, so did the object. "Aww," said Gordon. "I wanted another chance at it."

"I-I would have liked t-to study it, uh, more," added Brains. "But I guess w-we can't always have w-what we, uh, want." Sighing, he headed back to his lab.

Kyrano and Tin-Tin headed to the kitchen to clean up, Gordon and Scott left the room (Jeff correctly suspected Gordon was going to get out his medal, and Scott his photos from his Air Force days.), Alan sat down on the sofa, picking up one of the racing magazines that was laying nearby, and Virgil went to the piano and began searching through his old compositions. Jeff sat looking at his sons for a few minutes, then turned to his computer to finish a few last minute tasks.

Just before they all decided to go to bed, the eyes in John's portrait began flashing. Jeff opened communications and said, "Go ahead, John."

A live image replaced the painted one. "Good evening, Father. I'm just checking in before retiring for the night. The two fires I was monitoring are under control, and should be contained sometime tomorrow. The earthquake was a minor one, and the train derailment was less serious than first thought. That pretty much wraps things up here. I presume Scott and Alan had an uneventful flight home and all is well there."

Jeff smiled. "Not quite, John." He proceeded, with additions from Virgil and Alan, to relate what had happened that afternoon and evening, and was amused to see the look of chagrin on his son's face.

"Wouldn't you know it? I'm the one whose interest lies out here, but it's my brothers who get to experience the most exciting thing from space so far. Now what's wrong with this picture?"

Jeff laughed. "Well, I suppose you'll have your share of excitement in your life. Who knows what will show up next, and where?"

"Yeah," said Gordon, who had just entered the lounge to say goodnight. "You'll probably go scuba diving the next time you're down here, and discover some new species of marine life."

There was a round of chuckles and John replied, "Then I'll make sure you're with me, if I do. Well," he continued as he suppressed a yawn, "I'm sleepy. Goodnight, everyone." Communications ended as they replied, and the portrait returned.

"Well boys, it's been an eventful day. I for one am looking forward to a good night's sleep. So I suggest we all get some shuteye. We don't know what tomorrow will bring."

"I bet we'll all be dreaming about what we remembered today," said Gordon. "Scott's door was open when I headed here, and he was asleep with his Air Force photo album open on his chest. But you know what? I don't think that's a bad thing; do you?"

Everyone agreed as they left the lounge, turning the lights out as they went.


End file.
